The 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy

From June 5th to August 21st 2014, Normandy has been celebrating the 70th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy with due splendor and emotion. This year's anniversary was a time of national and international contemplation and communion. Traditionally, annual commemorations of the Landings of June 6th 1944 have always been major events for Basse-Normandie, all the more so on the occasions of quinquennial and decennial anniversaries, where the international aspect is especially prominent. And because this was likely the last decennial anniversary to take place in the presence of actors in and witnesses to those momentous events, it was a particularly special occasion; welcoming a still large number of the remaining men and women who act as guardians of this "living memory" – probably for the last time and in celebration of a great anniversary – was indeed cause for heartfelt emotion.

The anniversary has also provided a fitting opportunity for transmission of memory and the sharing of those fundamental values for which so many young men were willing to make the supreme sacrifice: peace, freedom, brotherhood and the dignity of humankind.